Adaptive Planning has achieved an impressive growth rate--revenue rose 483 percent from 2008 to 2012. The company, which is on Deloitte's 2013 fastest growing technology companies and sells cloud-based corporate performance management and business analytics software, quickly discovered that it needed enterprise software applications that could scale with that growth and provide the tools necessary to manage it. Adaptive Planning needed a cloud-based ERP system that was scalable, well integrated, and capable of consolidating data into one comprehensive view, so that executives could evaluate financials and key performance indicators no matter where they are. It was also critical that the system provide real-time financial reporting, to ensure that every stakeholder is viewing and working from the same information. NetSuite's cloud-based ERP platform proved to be an ideal fit for those criteria, said Rob Hull, Adaptive Planning's president and founder.

"A key benefit of NetSuite is that it's available anywhere, at any time," Hull said. "So if I'm on the road and need to look up information, I can."

In order to track performance and plan ahead, executives need easy access to corporate data and metrics. Having a central cloud-based ERP system and integrated data allows everyone to see the same information and access it from any location. When additional functionality is needed, they can turn to one of the hundreds of partner applications available on NetSuite's www.SuiteApp.com, as well as leverage NetSuite's SuiteTalk Web services integration tool to loop in the rare third-party module.

"The comprehensive suite of applications is important to us," Hull said. "In addition, we're able to integrate NetSuite with other applications when a solution isn't necessarily available.”

Another challenge frequently faced by fast-growing software companies is rising costs, which can easily begin to outstrip revenues if a company isn't careful. For Adaptive Planning, automation has helped it maintain its very efficient cost model and further streamline processes.

"NetSuite's helped us to scale and manage our rapid growth," Hull said. "One improvement has been automating processes that used to be very labor intensive.“

Moreover, the NetSuite financial planning module allows Adaptive Planning to combine forward looking planning, such as budgeting, forecasting and what-if analysis, with backward-looking actuals. Armed with that information, the company can do variance analyses and create dashboards and scorecards that combine NetSuite data with other data throughout the enterprise.

Hull also appreciated NetSuite's support for international currencies, languages and tax laws. "International growth is handled in the same application, so we can spin up new operations in foreign countries, all with the same chart of accounts, all the same data in one place, in one view, so that we're all together looking at the same information, " Hull said. "It made our business more nimble, more collaborative, allowed us to grow worldwide and gave us confidence that we have the right system in place to run our business.”